California Gov. Jerry Brown gestures to a chart showing the increase in education spending as he discusses his revised state budget plan during a news conference at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday May 14, 2015. Brown’s $115.3 billion spending plan would send billions more to public schools and freeze in-state undergraduate tuition and establish a new state tax credit of the working poor.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday proposed a record $115.3 billion California spending plan that would send millions more to the California State University system, freeze in-state undergraduate tuition at the University of California and establish a new state tax credit for the working poor.

The spending plan reflects surging revenues that have climbed by $6.7 billion since Brown offered his preliminary budget proposal in January.

Lawmakers have until midnight on June 15 to enact a balanced budget and send it to Brown for his signature.

Brown’s budget revision calls for another $38 million in funding for the CSU, which is on top of the $119.5 million he proposed for the system in January, drawing the total of new funding to nearly $158 million. CSU trustees had asked for a boost of $269 million, including $216.6 million from state funds and $52.4 million from net tuition revenue linked to enrollment increases.

The Governor’s Office said Thursday the budget revision “invests in the quality and affordability of the state’s higher education system,” with CSU agreeing to maintain current tuition and fee rates through 2015‑16 and looking at a funded enrollment growth of 4,000 students.

Despite the increase, officials in the 23-campus system said it still won’t be enough to address the needs of students and faculty.

“The intent of the university is to continue to work with lawmakers and encourage them to stand with the CSU and approve a budget that adequately provides for the needs of our students,” said CSU spokeswoman Laurie Weidner.

CSU trustees are expected to discuss the budget revision during meetings next week.

The additional $38 million in funding will be divided in half, with part the money going to fund enrollment growth and investing in ways to get students through college faster. The system has shut out more than 20,000 and 30,000 qualified students each year dating back to the recession.

“We’re certainly happy to get more, but it isn’t really enough to deal with the problems that continue to plague the CSU,” said Lillian Taiz, president of the California Faculty Association and a history professor at Cal State Los Angeles. “We can’t get out of the hole if the state won’t make an investment, and it just takes a toll on everyone involved. It takes a toll on students slow in their program. It takes a toll on faculty who are desperately trying to them through. It’s disappointing.”

The remaining portion of the increase will fund so-called student success measures, including hiring more tenure-track faculty and academic advisers, expanding concurrent online enrollment, fueling the Early Start program that prepares students for college coursework, and investing in applied research and internship programs for students.

The governor also reached agreement with University of California President Janet Napolitano on an in-state undergraduate tuition freeze for at least two years in exchange for an extra $436 million in state funding for the university system to offset pension costs.

The 10-campus system could still raise tuition for nonresidents and students earning professional degrees.

The nonprofit Campaign for College Opportunity, based in Los Angeles, said Brown’s revised budget proposal is good for higher education and provides multi-year financial stability. But the group called Brown’s plan for an additional 4,000 students “woefully inadequate.”

Michele Siqueiros, president of the Campaign for College Opportunity, said the state cannot have a growing and prosperous middle class without significantly expanding college enrollment for its residents.

“It’s great the state is in a position with greater tax revenue coming in, and it’s certainly an acknowledgment that money should be invested in human capital, but we don’t think it goes far enough,” Siqueiros said.

The Democratic governor also responded to criticism that he hasn’t done enough to help California’s poor by proposing a $380 million earned income tax credit that his administration said would help as many as 825,000 families and up to 2 million Californians.

“It’s just a straight deliverance of funding to people who are working very hard and are earning very little money, so in that sense I think it does a lot of good things,” Brown said of the tax credit.

The average tax credit would be $460 a year with a maximum credit of $2,653 for families with three or more children, to complement the federal tax credit program. It would be available to individuals with incomes of less than $6,580, or up to $13,870 for families with three or more dependents.

The budget sets aside $3.8 billion in 2015-16 to help California weather the next financial downturn, to be evenly split between deposits into the voter-approved rainy day fund and paying down debts, including the UC pension liability.

“I don’t want to get caught in the jaws of the persistent fiscal instability of the state government of California,” he said. “We know a recession is on the way. … Is it next year? Is it four years from now?”

The restrained approach won praise from Republicans in the state Legislature.

“It takes responsibility to hold the line on growth during years like this,” said Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar.

Fellow Democrats and social welfare advocates are expected to continue pressing the governor to expand child care, health care and social programs that they say will help close the gap between rich and poor.

“Child care and higher education are important investments to fortify the future of California’s economy,” Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, said in a statement. “We can and will do more to ensure our budget reflects these priorities.”

The budget also includes:

• $2.2 billion for programs to conserve water, respond to emergency conditions and expand local water supplies in the drought;

• a $1.2 billion increase in revenue from the state’s landmark effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions for a total of $2.2 billion. California’s cap-and-trade program was expanded this year to include fees on gasoline, natural gas, propane and heating oil;

• $62 million to begin enrolling low-income immigrants in Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid, on the assumption that President Barack Obama will prevail in a court battle over his executive order;

• and an additional $600 million above January projections for community colleges.

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